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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | jchasin@nyc.rr.com |
| Subject | My Vitally Important Top-20 Power Pop Records of All Time List |
| Date | Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:28:25 -0500 |
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First the list, then some comments. I note that others have posted
their lists in random or alphabetical order, so I'll assume that the
scoring does not take rank order into account (if it does I'll
resort.) This is roughly chronological:
1. Rubber Soul, Beatles (Brit version)
2. Today!, Beach Boys
3. Revolver, Beatles (Brit version)
4. Pet Sounds, Beach Boys
5. Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, the Who
6. Something/Anything, Todd Rundgren
7. #1 Record, Big Star
8. Radio City, Big Star
9. Pure Pop for Now People, Nick Lowe
10. Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Crenshaw
11. Field Day, Marshall Crenshaw
12. Like This, dBs
13. All Over the Place, Bangles
14. Skylarking, XTC
15. Goodbye Jumbo, World Party
16. Girlfriend, Matthew Sweet
17. Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub
18. Fidelity is the Enemy, Jim Boggia
19. Orange and Green and Yellow and Near, Cloud Eleven
20. Josh Rouse, 1972
Comments:
--I didn't sweat the list too much. These aren't my idea of the best
or even necessarily a definitive list of my favorites. They're just
the 20 I wasnt to vote for.
--Looking at them chronologically, I note that all 20 still sound
great to me, and all 20 in some small or not-so-small way affected the
way I heard music.
--There is always the definitional issue at play. I have seen a good
30 albums I truly love pop up on someone else's list, which I
personally don't think of as power pop (e.g., Seconds of Pleasure,
Petty's You're Gonna Get It.) One thing about these 20-- they're all
purty. Also skewed to my favorite artists; 2 each from Beach Boys,
Beatles, Crenshaw, and Big Star. And I had to stop myself from adding
a second dBs record.
--I know that the Who record is an anthology and thus of precarious
eligibility, and it won't get many votes. Regardless. I can't think
about my relationship with Power pop without that record; it framed
and presented the genre quite concisely and, for those who don't own
the 60s Who records, it becomes a must-have.
--Pet Sounds and Skylarking knocked the Wackers off the list.
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